Management Bios

Spencer Lee

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Roto-Rooter Group

Spencer Lee oversees Roto-Rooter Group, which is comprised of Roto-Rooter Services Company and Roto-Rooter Corporation. He was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States as a teenager where he became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

In July 1980, Spencer was hired as Assistant to the President of Chemed Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio. Months later, Chemed acquired Roto-Rooter Corporation, and in 1981, Spencer was appointed Director of Development at Roto-Rooter. In 1983 he was appointed Assistant Branch Manager of Roto-Rooter’s Boston Branch. In 1984, Spencer was promoted to Regional Vice President of Roto-Rooter’s Mid-Atlantic Region. In 1996 he became Regional Vice President of Roto-Rooter’s Northeast Region.

Later in 1996, Spencer was promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations, a position that took him back to Roto-Rooter’s headquarters in Cincinnati. In 1999, he was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Roto-Rooter Group.

Spencer received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. He earned an MBA from The University of Chicago.

Robert P. Goldschmidt

President of Roto-Rooter Group

As President of Roto-Rooter Group, Robert is responsible for the overall business, including operations, marketing, information technology, national sales, call centers, and corporate mergers and acquisitions. He also provides guidance to Roto-Rooter’s manufacturing division and franchising network.

Robert joined Roto-Rooter’s parent company, Chemed Corporation, in 1989 as Assistant to the President. In 1992, he was named Director of Development, where he focused on growing the company via the acquisition of independent Roto-Rooter franchises. Since then, he has completed over 100 acquisitions. In 1999, Robert was promoted to Vice President and was tasked with developing and operating a network of corporate call centers. In 2003, he added marketing to his areas of responsibility and was promoted to Senior Vice President. In 2015, Robert was promoted to Executive Vice President, and in 2020 he was named President of Roto-Rooter Rooter Group.

Robert earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Mark Conners

Executive Vice President of Contractor Operations

Mark oversees Contractor Operations at Roto-Rooter Services Company. Roto-Rooter’s contractor network serves 69 U.S. markets and 4 Canadian markets. Mark joined Roto-Rooter in 1984 as a Regional Controller. In 1988, he assisted with the expansion of contractor operations, and was subsequently promoted to Director of Contractor Operations. Mark was named Vice President in 1997, promoted to Senior Vice President in 2004 and Executive Vice President of Contractor Operations in 2015.

Mark received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from the University of Cincinnati.

Thad Reinhard

President of Roto-Rooter Corporation, Director of Plumbing

Thad Reinhard serves as President of Roto-Rooter Corporation and Director of Plumbing for Roto-Rooter Services Company. Thad oversees Roto-Rooter’s manufacturing plant in West Des Moines, Iowa and its production of Roto-Rooter sewer and drain cleaning machines, cables, blades, and other equipment. He also oversees Roto-Rooter’s network of more than 500 independent franchises in the United States, Canada, and around the world.

Before joining Roto-Rooter as Director of Plumbing in September 2017, Thad held several positions at Ferguson Enterprises, the nation’s largest distributor of plumbing supplies. He was named President of Roto-Rooter Corporation in December 2017.

Thad earned Bachelor of Science degrees in both International Business and Spanish from Wesleyan University in Ohio.

Mike Polyak

Senior Vice President of Operations

Mike Polyak is the Senior Vice President of Operations for Roto-Rooter Services Company. He has responsibility for all field operations involving company owned branches from coast-to-coast. Mike joined Roto-Rooter in 2002 as General Manager of the combined Chicago Branches. Six months later, he was promoted to Regional Vice President of Roto-Rooter’s Central Region. Mike was named Senior Vice President of Operations in 2020.

Before joining Roto-Rooter, Mike spent 18 years with Toys “R” Us in various positions of increasing responsibility. Mike received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Purdue University.

James Payne

Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

James Payne is Vice President, Chief Technology Officer at Roto-Rooter Services Company. He is responsible for overall leadership of Roto-Rooter’s Information Technology group, overseeing application development, infrastructure operations, and end user services.

James began his career at Roto-Rooter in July of 2000 as PC Analyst/Network Administrator. In February of 2002, he was promoted to End User Support Supervisor. In 2006, James became the Network Manager, and in 2015 he was promoted to Network Infrastructure Manager. In 2019, James was named Director, IT Infrastructure. In August 2022, he was promoted to his current position, Vice President, Chief Technology Officer.

James received his Bachelors (BBA) and Masters (MBA) degrees in Business Administration from Thomas More University. He is based at Roto-Rooter’s corporate headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sally Bayer

Vice President of Marketing

Sally Bayer is Vice President of Marketing for Roto-Rooter Services Company. In her role, she leads a data driven and creative team focused on the strategic management of the Roto-Rooter brand, direct and digital marketing, social media, public relations, communications, creative development, agency management, and program effectiveness measurement.

Sally joined Roto-Rooter in 1990 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in accounting, sales, and marketing. During her tenure, she has created best in class digital and marketing initiatives as a category leader in the home services industry.

Sally earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Thomas More College.

Steven Ratterman

Vice President of Financial Operations

Steven Ratterman became Vice President of Financial Operations in August 2019. He has responsibility for all financial and accounting operations, risk management and benefit plans of the company.

Steve previously served as Vice President of International Operations for 3G Services from 2017 to 2019; Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer of The O’Gara Group from 2005 to 2015; Group Controller of O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Company from 2000 until 2005; Manager Financial Reporting of The Kroll-O’Gara Company from 1999 to 2000; Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of Brazos Sportswear, Inc., a publicly traded sportswear manufacturer, from 1996 to 1999; and a Senior Accountant with Arthur Andersen from 1992 to 1996.

Steve received a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Miami University.

Paul Abrams

Director of Public Relations

Paul Abrams oversees Roto-Rooter’s public relations, media relations, social media, and video production efforts.

Paul began his career at KXAS-TV (NBC 5) in Dallas-Fort Worth as Associate Producer and Assistant News Assignments Editor. He also worked for many years as an on-air news reporter at KLTV (ABC) 7 in Tyler/Longview, Texas.

Paul was Marketing & Communications Director at Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company of Cincinnati from 1996 to 2003. He joined Roto-Rooter as Public Relations Manager in 2003 and was promoted to Director of Public Relations in 2011.

Paul received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from The University of Texas at Arlington.